Epidural anaesthesia for caesarean section: comparison of two injection techniques

Two techniques of injection for epidural anaesthesia for Caesarean sections were studied. Forty-five patients were randomly divided into two groups. Patients in Group I received 20 ml of lidocaine two per cent with epinephrine via the needle at a rate of 5 ml.30 sec-1 after a 3 ml test dose. Patients in Group II received the same dose of the same solution in increments of 5 ml injected through a catheter after a 3 ml test-dose. Each increment was injected in one minute with a delay of two minutes between injections. Top-up doses were given in both groups to obtain a T4 sensory level. There was no difference between the two groups in the quality of sensory block before delivery. However, the quality was significantly better in Group II after delivery (P = 0.02). The incidence of hypotension was 52.2 per cent in Group I and 13.6 per cent in Group II (P = 0.014). There was no significant difference in maternal and umbilical venous lidocaine concentrations. We conclude that injection in fractional doses is a safer and more efficient technique for epidural anaesthesia for Caesarean section.